As an atheist, I couldn’t care less about what Mormons think.

Morality doesn’t require religion, as you would know from some of cultural anthropology. There’s a good case to be made that secular people have kept religions from corrupting entirely. As the proportion of secular people rises over time, the corruption of organized religion decreases.

And just how is that speaking out you must also be doing against divorce, serial polygamy, and interracial marriage going? Western civilization in general seems to be doing just fine and is nowhere near collapse. It is only conservative Christian ”civilization” with its sadly cruel and inhumane misdefinitions of being human that is disintegrating.

I had to endure talking about Mormon artsy people losing their jobs. (The latest being Richard Raddon of the Los Angeles Film Festival).

Then reading an editorial by Jay Ambrose (Scripps Howard News Service) how gay marriage is not about civil rights.

And my blood pressure was taxed a bit when I read the local letters to the editor. I’m right in the middle of Mormondom in Utah Valley. They still don’t understand all the commotion about gays protesting at LDS temples.

Which reminds me, the LDS are preparing for a new Temple open-house this month. So, as a precautionary act, the tiny city of Draper, Utah (Draper!?!) is defining the areas for possible protestors who might disrupt the peaceful gathering of people for the January open-house. I would suggest gays avoid the area. Let the Mormons do their thing.

Oh..okay…maybe I could even advise some to take the tour of temple before it is closed to the public. You’ll get little booties to wear in this most sacred building. And no natty comments about the interior decorating…please. It’s a very hush-hush and solemn tour.

But, otherwise, I survived Thanksgiving and I’ll be doing double time at the gym this week.

As a gay person myself, I can say wholeheartedly that you are wrong.

Because I don’t care if you believe that what I’m doing is “wrong” and/or “unnatural” or that you and your religion consider it a “sin”. Because that’s just your opinion.

“Wrong” and “unnatural” according to whom? Your God?

I don’t care what, if any, God you believe in. That is your right to do so and it is also my right to not believe in your God or any Gods for that matter.

In America we don’t just have freedom “of” religion, we also have freedom “from” religion.

When the govt. crosses over that line and starts to tell religions what they can/can’t do, then I have a problem with that. Because if they can do that to some religions, they can do it to all and even those that aren’t religious.

So too, when religions cross over into the domain of govt. and start to tell the “people” what they can/can’t do, then I have a problem with that.

Because then you are forcing people that may not be religious or of your particular “flavor” of religion to follow the rules of the govt. as dictated by your particular religion.

The religious and non-religious communites need to be kept separate from one another. And the government should treat BOTH equally under civil laws. Where the rules, benefits and legal protections are granted to both communities regardless of their beliefs or lack thereof.

By the way Arturo, you haven’t really done too much research into “homosexuality” because if you had, you would have found out that “homosexuality” is alive and well in the animal and plant kingdoms. So, your belief that homosexuality is “unnatural” is not correct.

I’m curious where you found these insights into the intentions and desires of gay folk. Did God come down and divinely reveal this to you? Have you spent years in anthropoligical study of gay and lesbian subpopulations?

Or are you just repeating angry and hate-filled rants that you have heard from others?

You really are confused. Churches decide everyday who they are going to marry and who they are not. The fact that blacks and whites can legally marry has never compelled one racist preacher to perform such a marriage. It has been 44 years since the 1964 Civil Rights Act and preachers can still discriminate.

I suggest you sit down, read the Constitution (particularly the part about the separation of church and state) and relax. All this worrying isn’t good for your blood pressure.

Then once you are calm, you should ask yourself why gay couples aren’t entitled to the same legal benefits and obligations under CIVIL LAW that heterosexual couples are. It is because of bigotry. Some (like yourself) have some bizarre need to control others by denying them equal protection under the law. Your behvavior seems more in line with the Muslim extremists that you cite who are running countries like Iran, than gay protesters demanding equal rights and an end to discrimination. Have a nice weekend.

Acknowledging that society as a whole will never truly accept homosexual behavior as either normal or acceptable, the gay movement launched a campaign to compel acceptance through the courts; and where those efforts fail, through acts of intimidation, violence and persecution.

Interestingly, gays attack on religion will have far more reaching consequences than they imagine. If you can ultimately compel through legislation the abolition of the teaching of morality by religion, you erase the foundation for any moral conduct whatsoever on the part of society. And when there are no societal boundarys, there will be no limits on conduct. Any culture without moral boundaries and limits is destined for failure.

If you were to achieve the right to gay marriage, would you be willing to allow Churches to teach that homosexual behavior is sinful? Would you simply walk away if a church said “we only marry heterosexual couples”? What about Church membership? Would you accept that membership in many Churches would simply not be possible for “married” gay couples? Would you be OK with parents opting thier children out of public schools courses on “diversity education” (which is really nothing more than an effort to indoctrinate children with the belief system that homosexual behavior is normal and acceptable)? Unlikely.

Experience in other countries where gay marriage has been legalized show that they do NOT have a “live and let live” policy; instead they seek immediately to prosecute or sue anyone who speaks out against them, or refuses to equate homosexual behavior on the same norms and terms as hetersexual behavior. And you wonder why Christians are fighting you on gay marriage.

In the end, changes to civil laws or not – honest Churches will always teach that homosexual behavior is both immoral and contrary to God’s laws. And as long as the US Constitution stands, the freedom or religion (and the right to speak out against immoral behavior like homosexuality) guaranteed under the first ammendment will remain.

However, in the end, should this nation crumble due to the final dissolution of its moral underpinning – you can reasonably anticipate that the muslim invaders who conquor it will be just as tolerant of homosexuals as you have been of Christians who dont support your point of view. Nah, you’re right – they wont be tolerant at all.